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11:09GMT 07Nov2008-Gas Natural, Fenosa up on equity swap

Shares in Gas Natural and Union Fenosa outperform after the gas group secures a further 3 percent of bid target Fenosa through an equity swap deal with ING.
"The equity swap agreement would allow Gas Natural to take advantage of the lower Fenosa stock prices," BPI said in a note.
Union Fenosa closed at 16.91 euros per share on Thursday, compared to the 18.33 euros per share Gas Natural has committed itself to paying for the company's shares.
"Any news which reduces doubt surrounding the deal arising from the current credit crisis is positive for Fenosa and will move the share price closer to Gas Natural's offer price," a trader at a local brokerage said.
Gas Natural is financing its 16.7 billion euros bid to acquire Fenosa with planned asset sales, a capital increase and a syndicated loan for up to 18 billion euros.

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11:05GMT 07Nov2008-Turkcell rises on Q4 optimism after results

Shares in Turkey's leading mobile operator Turkcell rise 5.4 percent on optimism for the fourth quarter, despite increasing competition, after it releases its Q3 results.
"Turkcell released its Q3 profit and people are starting to see it as a safe play...it doesn't look very expensive either regarding its multiples compared to its emerging market peers," said Can Oksun of Ekspres Securities.
Oksun also said investors were starting to expect stronger performance from Turkcell due to aggressive advertising after the introduction of number portability, which had orignially been seen as a liability for the market leader.

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10:54GMT 07Nov2008-STV Group easier on advertising outlook

Shares in Scottish television company STV Group Plc. Plc dip 2.3 percent to 157.75 pence after a cautious trading update. While the group says it is on track to meet its 2008 targets, it warns that 2009 is likely to remain challenging with the national airtime market down by 6.0 percent and the ITV network some 6.0 percent behind this.
Brokers Numis Securities expects to keep its 2008 pretax profits estimate on hold at 11.5 million pounds, at the bottom of the current consensus range. For 2009, however, the broker is lowering its profit forecast by 10 percent to 9.5 million pounds to take into account a weaker national advertising market.
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10:52GMT 07Nov2008-Swiss Life, Swiss Re regain ground

Shares in Swiss Life and Swiss Re gain 7.3 percent and 4 percent respectively, with traders saying the stocks are correcting after losing too much ground earlier in the week.
"People believe all the bad stuff has been priced in and therefore believe it can't get worse," a trader says.
"If it was about fundamental factors, Swiss Re would more likely fall 5 percent than gain after competitor Munich Re has also been hit by the financial crisis and had to issue a profit warning," another trader says.
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10:49GMT 07Nov2008-Clearstream rises on loan extension

Medical device company Clearstream Technology rises 29 percent to 13.5 pence after it announces that it has increased its term loan with HBOS.
"It's been extended to half a million euros and it's a five-year term now on better conditions as well, so that's probably the reason why it's gone up so much," says Amisha Chohan, analyst at Blue Oar.
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10:43GMT 07Nov2008-HeidelbergCement down on Lafarge outlook

Shares in HeidelbergCement, the world's No.4 cement maker, drop 2 percent after Lafarge, the world's biggest cement maker, says it is not able to confirm its 2010 outlook.
One trader says that Lafarge's gloomy outlook has a negative impact on HeidelbergCement.
Lafarge reported third-quarter operating profit and sales above the average forecasts in a Reuters poll of eight analysts, but said it could not confirm its 2010 target due to the "current exceptional uncertainty.
Lafarge had previously guided for earnings per share of at least 15 euros and free cash flow of more than 3.5 billion euros ($4.48 billion) in 2010.
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10:08GMT 07Nov2008-Lafarge falls on worries over outlook

Lafarge gives up early gains and falls into negative territory, losing 5 percent as traders and analysts focus on some of the more negative aspects of the French construction group's third quarter results statement.
"At the market open, the focus was on the positive aspects of Lafarge's cost-cutting. But now the focus has turned to the poor prospects for 2009," says a trader in Paris.
A fund manager also mentions that analysts focused on the company's cautious outlook during a conference call with Lafarge.
Lafarge shares, which initially rose as much as 6.9 percent, are down 5.7 percent at 45.14 euros. The DJ Stoxx European construction index is down 0.8 percent while France's benchmark CAC-40 index is up 0.1 percent.

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09:56GMT 07Nov2008-Galliford Try falls on writedown

Shares in building and construction group Galliford Try Plc. fall 10 percent to 36.75 pence after it warns that it will have to take a 50 million pound writedown on its housebuilding operations. The group says it is also cautious about prospects for both this year and next.
Stockbrokers KBC Peel Hunt says home sales are now likely to be some 200 below its previous forecast of 1,650 units and that profits for the current year are now expected to come in at around 25 million pounds, some 13 million pounds lower than its previous estimate. For the following year, the broker has cut its pretax estimate by 10 million pounds to 22 million.
Numis Securities says there are better prospects and value elsewhere and recommends Balfour Beatty Plc. in the contracting space and Bellway Plc in the housebuilders.
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09:48GMT 07Nov2008-T.Italia down on Libya report, results due

Shares in Telecom Italia are down 4.9 perecnt after newspaper Finanza & Mercati reports that the Libyan Investment Authority's board has made no decision about whether to take a stake in the Italian phone company.
Libyan funds are in talks to buy stakes in Telecom Italia, which is to report quarterly results later in the day.
"There is a rumour that the Libyans do not want to invest in Telecom. All you need is an unverified rumour to make the market move violently despite a ban on short selling," a trader says.
The S&P MIB is down 1.1 percent and the DJ Stoxx European telecoms index is down 0.5 percent.

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